


First Blood

by RayneSummer



Category: Uncharted (Video Games)
Genre: Gen, bby Nate & papa Sully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 03:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11523912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RayneSummer/pseuds/RayneSummer
Summary: The first time Nate got 'actually' hurt under Sully's watch.(Their opinions on 'injured' don't quite seem to match up a lot of the time...)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been like 59 years but finally I'm back to my favourite boys and my favourite game series and my favourite genre (hurt/comfort, in case that isn't obvious..)
> 
> [Inspired by playing the ER chapters of Heart's Medicine: Time to Heal]

It happened pretty damn quickly - one moment he was walking quietly through the hallway, the next there was shouting and smashing and Nate found himself on the other side of a broken glass window with a huge gash in his arm and several pieces of glass littered on his body.

Truthfully, he wasn't entirely sure what exactly had happened, but it had certainly fucked him up pretty bad and gotten Sully pretty mad.

Ha. Poetry.

Okay, maybe he was slightly delirious. That could probably be further proved by the thundering in his head which would not shut up, and the blood almost flowing down his arm.

Nate couldn't help thinking that things had gone slightly wrong. And this wasn't even any kind of illegal job! It didn't seem very fair that just visiting someone had led to such a disaster. Luckily, at 16, Nate had never found life fair, so it wasn't like he was exactly surprised.

His attention was caught by Sully yelling his name, sounding kind of panicked. Which wasn't entirely necessary, since the man seemed to be right in front of him.

"Yeah?" Nate blinked hard, trying to clear his vision so he could read Sully's expression.

The older man frowned, looking even more concerned, and for some reason Nate got the feeling that he'd shouted his response also unnecessarily - although in his defence, he needed to shout to hear himself over this damn thumping headache he'd managed to get.

Sully's mouth moved as he looked Nate over, but the teenager couldn't really hear any words. Before he could ask, however, the middle-aged lady who owned the estate practically appeared nearby, waving her hands at them and seemingly shouting. Sully looked around at her, worry building.

"Look, Madison, I don't know what--"

"Is someone trying to rob," the woman called back, words clearly distinguishable even with her thick Russian accent. "Your boy already hurt. Go now. I am sorry. Will be in contact. Go now!"

She flapped her hands at them more urgently as an alarm began to wail in the house, and Sully nodded at her in confirmation before turning back to Nate, and seeing how dazed the boy still looked, made a split-second decision and scooped him up in a rock-a-bye-baby sort of way before running towards where they'd left the car.

Thank God he'd had the foresight to park around back, instead of in Lady Madison's proffered spot outside the door.

A result of years of thieving experience, maybe, but it was helpful nonetheless.

It didn't take long to reach the car parked by the ranch and woods, but what was worrying was Nate not really having said anything since being blasted through the hall window by the bomb in the front lounge. Sully had stopped to wrap things up with Madison, and was just hurrying to catch up with his protegee when right in front of him a blast ripped through the right wall and pushed Nate out the window.

It had taken precious seconds to regain his hearing and stagger to his feet, immediately yelling for the kid, fearing the worst - a fear that only mounted when he caught sight of Nate lying stunned on the gravel outside, glass covering his still form.

The whole event was replaying in Sully's mind at a frantic pace as he hurried around the passenger side of the car and gently lowered Nate's feet to the ground while keeping a firm arm around his upper body, keeping him from collapsing. Sully opened the car door with his now free hand and carefully but quickly helped Nate sit inside.

"Did you just... carry me?"

Sully paused before shutting the door, eyeing the kid with worry despite his question. Nate looked genuinely confused and still out of sorts, though thankfully seemed to be conscious enough to process what was going on, albeit slowly.

He shut the door and ran around to the other side, swiftly getting in and glancing at the kid's questioning face. "We were in a bit of a hurry," Sully offered in answer to the question, and pulled his door shut before revving up the engine.

Nate blinked and looked out the windshield as they drove out of the estate and onto a main road. He winced as Sully almost skidded around a corner, and murmured almost to himself, "my head hurts."

"How bad?" Sully immediately replied, sparing a concerned glance at the passenger seat as he slowed towards some changing traffic lights.

The kid took a breath, seemingly considering the question, as if he had to think hard about the answer. Concern growing, Sully took the few seconds waiting for the green light to twist in his seat and rummage through a small bag of his in the back seat footwell.

Finding what he was looking for, he had to toss the old grey t-shirt onto the kid's lap as the lights changed again and he pushed his foot down, searching for the sign they needed as the car sped along the motorway.

"Put that on your arm." Sully glanced at the kid again when he didn't react. "Nate. Nate!"

He blinked and looked at the older man. "What?"

"Put the shirt on your arm, it's bleeding."

Good thing Sully was somewhat of a master at sounding calm when he was close to panicking himself. He alternated between watching the road and keeping an eye on Nate as the kid slowly applied the shirt to his injury, hissing and cringing in pain as it flared up.

They were silent for a moment, as Sully caught the blue sign for Hospital and muttered something in relief under his breath - then noticed out of the corner of his eye Nate's head drooping, eyes almost closed.

"Hey! No passing out, kid, we're almost there," Sully said firmly, a tiny bit of worry abating when Nate looked up again at his shout, blinking and frowning but still conscious.

He groaned quietly, letting go of the red-soaked top briefly to drag a hand over his eyes. "Ugh. Where are we?"

"Going to the ER, kid."

"Huh? Why?"

Sully raised an eyebrow, not totally certain if it was better or worse that Nate wasn't so concerned about his state. "No offence kid, but you're a bit of a mess, and I'd rather not screw around with that arm."

Nate squinted and looked down at his lap, where beneath the grey top his injured arm was still bleeding, not to mention had a few bits of glass imbedded in the skin.

"Oh."

"Yeah," Sully agreed grimly, "now just stay with me a minute, we're almost there."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> if I lie here  
> if I just lie here  
> would you live with me and just  
> forget the world?  
> forget what we're told  
> before we get too old  
> [...] let's waste time  
> chasing cars  
> around our heads.  
> I need your grace  
> to remind me  
> to find my own..

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Chasing Cars, by Snow Patrol]

The hospital was busy but thankfully not horrendously full of people rushing around. As a pretty nurse Sully had once dated would say, things could get rough as hell in the emergency room. Her words, not his.

Sully parked the rental car close to the main entrance and hurriedly got out before ushering Nate out of his seat and into the building. Inside, he quickly directed the kid to a free seat in the semi-packed waiting room before going up to the reception desk as the middle-aged man sitting behind it looked up politely.

"Hi, my, uh... son accidently fell through a window while playing at his, um, aunt's house; he's pretty hurt and got glass practically everywhere." He internally winced. It was a terrible lie and even worse delivery, but it was going to have to do for now.

Not to mention Nate probably wouldn't appreciate his title, no more than if Madison found out she was apparently an aunt. Oh well.

"Hm." The man scrolled down something on his computer before glancing back up at Sully. "And your names, sir?"

Oh shit. Name? He didn't have time to make something up.

"Victor Sullivan. And the-- _my_ kid is Nathan D-- Sullivan."

Okay, well he was really cocking this up. But at the moment it didn't even _matter_ , he just needed to make sure Nate was going to be okay, then they could be out of here, and get away from the entire place if necessary, not a problem.

Nate being hurt was a problem. Whatever they had to do next wasn't. That was the bottom line.

Sully was almost so lost in panicked thoughts that he nearly missed the man's instructions, "okay, well, if you'd like to take a seat with the patient and fill this out, he'll be called shortly. How old is he?"

"Sixteen."

"Right, so it's up to you two if you accompany him to treatment or not." The receptionist did some clicking on his computer and leaned back in his chair to grab the paper being quietly printed out behind him.

He handed Sully the paperwork with one hand and made a couple of last clicks with the other.

Sully nodded and absently flicked through the three or so pages without really paying attention. Hopefully he'd be able to come up with some details for this shit, and be a bit calmer next time someone asked him stuff, which would probably be the doctor. Or a police officer.

Never mind. That didn't matter.

"You'll be called shortly," the man said, already typing away on his computer like he was before Sully interrupted. "Also, the hospital is short-staffed tonight, so please be patient."

Ah, so that was it - not too busy, but rushing around to compensate for missing staff. Fair enough, Sully mused.

He walked in a slightly calmer step back to where Nate was sitting, head tilted back with a slight frown, scanning the immediate questions in front of him and already formulating answers. When he sat down, Nate started slightly and blinked as though trying to stay awake. Which he probably was.

"Oh. It's you."

"Who else," Sully muttered in reply, heart not really into the bickering as he eyed Nate worriedly. The kid was pale with an alarming amount of blood flecked on his clothes, not to mention the soaked t-shirt he held loosely on his arm.

This was definitely one of the occasions Sully thanked his instincts, from parking the car out of view at Madison's to deciding to drive straight to the hospital, rather than wait to see if it was bad enough, or even trying to deal with it on their own.

Although, in his defence, that was one time, and anyway, how was he meant to know that tiny cut would cause blood poisoning?!

It was probably lucky he'd just needed a tetanus jab. They sometimes had their fair share of luck, it had to be said.

Talking of things going their way, Sully had just settled back to deal with the paperwork when a rushed-looking nurse in light green scrubs walked in from a nearby hallway and consulted her clipboard before looking up and calling, "Nathan Sullivan?"

Sully winced and glanced at the kid, almost expecting an outburst right there and then, but Nate's eyes were closed and he looked either about to or already passed out. Filled with a sudden and scary fear, Sully reached out to shake the teen's shoulder a little less than gently. "Nate!"

To his relief, Nate snapped to attention immediately at the shout and blinked, startled, at Sully before his gaze found the nurse waiting for them nearby.

"C'mon, son," Sully murmured, standing up and taking Nate's good arm to help him. The kid groaned involuntary as he got to his feet, leaning heavily on Sully. It was an indication of how hurt or worried they were that neither noted the slipped forbidden nickname.

The nurse nodded at them and waved a hand to indicate they follow her down the hallway. They followed, Sully becoming quite worried about how quiet the kid was being, not to mention how much he was leaning on him.

"In here please. I'll be back with you shortly," the nurse told them as she pointed to a curtained cubicle before walking quickly in the opposite direction to fetch something.

Sully led Nate inside and settled him lying on the stretcher bed by the wall. He instinctively pulled his legs up so his feet were flat on the bed, and Sully decided to carefully pull the kid's shoes off, out of politeness or whatever. He didn't react other than screwing his eyes shut so his face was a grimace of pain, which only mounted Sully's concern.

The nurse can back in, pulling what she called an observation machine. It contained items to get blood pressure, temperature, heart rate and other basic vitals, she explained after introducing herself as Christina.

"I'll just get your readings while we wait for the doctor," she added to Nate, and proceeded to do so while Sully sat in the one chair nearby and kept an eye on them as he started filling out the paperwork. The simple stuff like names was easy enough, so it didn't take long to get to the other pages after the first, and already nearly complete it.

Meanwhile, Christina the nurse talked to Nate to keep him alert as she took his temperature and stuff and hooked him up to the monitoring equipment, frowning as she jotted down the numbers on some paper. "Got to keep a note or I'll forget, I can be a hell of a scatterbrain," she joked, and Nate gave a weak smile, trying to follow her hands as she checked his reactions then gave the main injury a cursory look.

"Right." She turned to address Sully after the examination, who immediately snapped to attention to listen. "His blood pressure is quite low, which is to be expected with the amount of blood it looks like he's lost, but still worrying," she gestured to the machine attached to Nate and explained, "so I'm going to leave that on, it might beep a bit but unless it's continuous, try not to worry."

She gave him a reassuring smile, which Sully really rather appreciated at this point, and added, "a doctor should be with you shortly; I'll go and give her the details I've got so she knows exactly what to do when she comes down."

Sully nodded politely with a slightly strained returning smile, and as soon as she left, pulling the curtain across, he put his attention back onto the kid.

"Nate? How you doing?"

Although he'd later deny it, his voice shook a little, and the fear that had apparently set itself in for the long run didn't abate at the teen's pained sigh before he replied, "not great."

The machine beeped and Sully eyed it warily. He never trusted hospital machines that beeped and too-often told of bad things rather than good. But after the first interruption it remained mostly silent, giving the two time to talk. Or, rather, Sully managed to get out of Nate that he felt pretty beat up and dizzy before the curtain was pulled back to reveal a different woman.

She gave them both a gentle smile as she entered, pulling a trolley of draws with dressing on top with one hand, and a small adjustable stall with the other.

"Evening, gentlemen," she greeted, and paused to put the stall next to Nate's bed, then checked the equipment on top of the drawer trolley as she said, "the name's Beth. So I've heard you've been in a bit of a fight."

Sully frowned. "It wasn't a fight--" he started slowly, cut off by the lady waved one gloved hand in his direction with another smile.

"I'm just kidding; falling through a glass window can't really be won like a fight, can it?"

He raised an eyebrow, nevertheless feeling a warm liking to the doctor. Someone who was calm and gentle and humorous couldn't have just got bad news about someone, could they? True or not, Sully had a good feeling towards her and the confidence she possessed. It calmed the protective retaliation he almost had ready, anyway.

Beth sat on the stall and reached for Nate's arm, shushing his hisses of pain as she gently examined it with her gloved hands. "Okay. First, let's get this glass out," she said, and twisted to reach for her items with one hand.

"Nice shirt," she commented, pulling it out from under Nate's arm and turning slightly to offer it to Sully. "And by that I mean I guess you didn't like it. Though there are other ways to show that, you know," she said, and winked before turning back to Nate.

He took the grey top from her, feeling a smile on his face despite the situation. Beth exhumed not only confidence but reassurance, and that was, as well as being attractive, really helpful. Sully usually hated being patronised or joked about or whatever you want to call it, but in this scenario Beth's attitude and comments really helped, and hopefully not only him.

After an anaesthetic injection, she deftly and quickly used tweezers to pull several almost unnoticeably-small bits of glass from and around the gash on Nate's arm, using a couple of dressings to wipe blood away and keep pressure on the injury as she deposited the shards onto a dish on the trolley drawer. After checking the other arm and carrying out a full-body exam for other injuries, she blew out a sigh, sounding mock-exasperated, and gave them both a look that somehow reminded Sully of someone they actually had yet to meet; someone who had dealt with them for a while and was both tired and indescribably fond of them and their antics.

"How'd you get yourself into this mess, kid?" She said almost affectionately, sounding very much like Sully himself, to Nate's amusement, if that little-shit look he gave his mentor was anything to go by. But the fact that he was still with it enough to not only pay attention but react was such a welcome that Sully didn't even try to hide his slow sigh of relief.

The doctor called Nate's attention back before he could express his own surprise at Sully's clear extreme worry, and the latter watched closely as she did an equally thorough check of consciousness and any head injury, testing reactions and abilities and so on.

Finally, she was done - Nate's arm was dressed and wrapped, all glass removed; she'd diagnosed him with a minor concussion, nothing to really worry about, and sewed up a couple of other cuts after the big gash, "just to be safe" as she said. And he was thankfully feeling loads better after a couple of injections and some IV medication she set up in the back of his hand, just for a few minutes, she promised before standing up.

Never one to stick around, as soon as doctor Beth stood up to sort out the used and unused stuff on the drawer trolley, Nate moved to sit up and thus show he was better and hopefully get out sooner rather than later.

However, he didn't factor Sully's opinion in that.

"Whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" Sully stood up and stepped over to Nate's bed, more than alarmed at the kid's movements. Nate blinked at him.

"Getting up?" He replied in a questioning tone, surprised at the man's reaction.

Judging by the unamused expression he got in reply, though, getting up wasn't on the agenda yet. The doctor, Beth, chuckled quietly at man and boy looking at each other. They seemed so surprised by the other's concern and care, she couldn't help thinking, and it was both lovely and almost adorably amusing.

Nate glanced at her, eyebrow raised. She smiled back.

"Sorry Nate, but your..." She looked at Sully pointedly, who simply put in, "Sully". After professionally barely noticeable pause, she continued, "Sully's right, you're not free to go just yet."

The teen grumbled something under his breath, which both adults ignored.

"I want you on that IV for a bit longer; even if you do feel better, you're likely still in shock under the antibiot-"

"Good drugs," Sully put in, for their unprofessional benefit. Beth smiled.

"Under the good drugs you're on." She turned slightly to more address Sully. "I'd also feel a lot better giving him a scan - probably an x-ray - to make sure we've got all the glass out and I didn't miss any internal damage, but," she sighed, "the radiography department is really busy at the moment, and I'm not sure when they'd be able to put him in."

She looked quite apologetic, and from what Sully had heard in the hallways while he'd been waiting, the place had only been getting busier. But Nate really did seem better, and the administrations had been thorough from what he could see, so he wasn't that worried about any kind of scan, and admittedly he was as keen as the kid was about getting out of here - the sooner, the better, as it's said.

So he gave the doctor a reassuring smile and replied, "thank you, but it's really okay. I'll definitely drag him back if anything else comes up."

Beth laughed as Nate made such a typical teenager huff at Sully's remark, and put out a hand.

"Although I wish I didn't have to in the first place, it has been a pleasure meeting you two," she said as Sully shook her hand with a warm smile. "And, as I'm sure you'll agree, I hope to not see you again. Here, at least!"

Nate nodded in a solemn way, and as he was leaning on his good elbow to remain half sitting up, Beth gave him a pat on the shoulder instead of shaking his injured hand. "Thanks," he replied, adding at her usual smile and nod, "seriously."

"You're seriously welcome." She picked up the stall in one hand and went to pull the trolley with the other and made to leave after some parting words, "the nurse will be in soon, in at least ten minutes, so please wait for her."

Sully waved as she slipped past the curtain and sighed. When he looked back at Nate, the oddly serious expression on the kid's face almost took him aback. "What?"

"You were really worried?"

He resisted rolling his eyes, instead just settling for nodding. "Well, you were a bit of a mess, kid, and I didn't want to play around."

Nate hummed thoughtfully, brow creased in an uncannily intense way. It was almost unnerving. Sully sighed, beginning to feel tiredness set in now the fear and resulting adrenaline was over. He patted Nate's knee in a fond way and pulled his chair slightly closer before sitting back in it, vaguely keeping an eye on the entrance curtain.

After a moment, Nate sighed as well and moved to lay on his back again, grunting a little as he jostled his injured arm. Aware of Sully's attention on him, but didn't comment on it. He'd been mostly conscious almost all of the time, and the older man's fear and worry had been almost palpable. It was... strange. To have someone care so much. Strange, but good. Different, maybe, but definitely good. And also safe. He had felt such a feeling of safety, like he knew Sully was caring and protecting for him.

Great. Now he sounded like a sap.

He shook his head about himself, but with a smile on his face, and closed his eyes, feeling the drugs working in his system, and now he knew the other comforting feeling was the feeling of being cared for; of safety.

"Get some sleep, kid. I'm right here."

Okay, they were both saps. Oh well. One of Sully's occasional sayings came to mind - 'in for a penny, in for a pound'.

"Will do, old man."

"Hey." The warning tone meant nothing, and they both knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer -- I live in the UK and know little about the healthcare system in America or, well, anywhere else (I don't have a specific place they are in this story since it's not canon or important!) - so please bear with the resulting inaccuracy or lack of clarification!  
> My information on (American) healthcare comes from films/programs (mostly Friends or Supernatural) and this game I'm currently playing that inspired this - Heart's Medicine. Good game. Also from own experiences as both a patient and work experience. Oh, and of course from stuff I've watched, mostly Bizarre ER.


End file.
